Appointment of unilingual N.B. lieutenant-governor violated charter, judge rules
CBC
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's 2019 appointment of a unilingual lieutenant-governor in New Brunswick violated language guarantees in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a Court of Queen's Bench judge has ruled.
Chief Justice Tracey DeWare of the Court of Queen's Bench says the charter's protections of New Brunswick's unique bilingual status means that a lieutenant-governor in this province must be bilingual.
Brenda Murphy is not.
DeWare stops short of calling the appointment unconstitutional and invalid, saying that declaring the position vacant would create chaos in New Brunswick.
It would call into question all the laws Murphy has signed and the appointments and other cabinet decisions made in her name.
"Such a situation would create a legislative and constitutional crisis within the Province of New Brunswick which is not necessary to adequately vindicate the infringed language rights in question," she writes.
She continues that her ruling should be "sufficient to ensure appropriate and prompt action on behalf of the government to rectify the situation," leaving it up to the federal government to decide on the timing and "the extent of that action."
There was no immediate comment from Murphy's office, which asked for CBC News to provide a copy of the ruling.
DeWare's ruling is based on three sections of the charter that apply only to New Brunswick.
Section 16(2) declares that English and French have equal status "in all institutions of the legislature and government of New Brunswick," while Section 16.1(2) requires the legislature and government to "preserve and promote" the equality of English and French.
Section 20(2) guarantees the right of any New Brunswicker to communicate with or receive services from "any office of an institution of the legislature or government of New Brunswick" in English or French.
The Acadian Society of New Brunswick launched the challenge, arguing that those sections apply to the lieutenant-governor's position.
The federal government responded that because the appointment is made by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister, it's not reviewable by courts.
But DeWare found that because the challenge raised constitutional issues, the court had a duty to consider the case.
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